Patience, Iago!

I've always considered myself a patient person - mostly because people used to tell me all the time just how patient I was. Looking back, I think I was more selfish than patient. The situations wherein I exhibited "patience" were situations in which restraint was required for self-preservation. Now, that's probably confusing to those of you who don't know me or how I grew up - but you'll just have to take my word for it ;-)

The more I am on my own, with no serious repercussions for not excercising patience, the less patient I seem to be - and the more God is reminding me of it. He allows or arranges trials in order to test us - that we might see the weaknesses He already knows are there. He brings trying people into our lives so we can excercise forgiveness and, yes, patience. He lets us get snarled up in traffic so we can excercise forgiveness and, yes, patience. He sets us in excellent working conditions - except for the fellow worker in our office that is constantly distracting - so we can excercise forgiveness and, yes, patience.

As I was writing I began to realize I had a theme going. It's not just patience, it's forgiveness too. Being willing to let go of perceived wrongs or petty annoyances. Guess I've got work to do there too.

I gotta tell ya - I'm sure looking forward to that resurrection day when the trump resounds and the dead in Christ rise and we who are alive meet them in the air to ever be with the Lord! That day when I will be perfectly forgiving and perfectly patient at all times. Imagine never being annoyed at anything. Never taking an unintended slight personally. Never getting *stuck* in traffic. Always knowing that where you are and what you are doing and even thinking is exactly where you are supposed to be and what you are supposed to be doing and thinking and that you are pleasing God at ALL times!!!! I, for one, can't wait! :-)

The Demons also believe - and tremble . . .

So, what is it that makes the Christian's "belief" in God different from the Demon's belief? I think this is a crucial point for understanding true salvation. James 2:19 states, "You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe - and tremble!" Satan & his clan all know, and understand far better than you or I are able, the nature of Christ - His union with God the Father in diety, His incarnation, His sinless life, His selfless sacrifice on the cross and His resurrection. They, above all on this earth, *believe* the gospel. They know it is true beyond a shadow of a doubt. They witnessed it.

So - what does the Scripture really mean when it says in that famous John 3:16, "that whosoever believeth in Him shall not perish, but have everlasting life"? There are a lot of folks out there who truly believe they are saved because they believe the facts of the gospel and they point to this verse as evidence of their salvation. They live their lives as "good" folks and one day, they will wake up in the throne-room of God and hear Him say, "Depart from Me, for I never knew you!" What an awful deception they are living in. What a terrible awakening it will be on that day.

Why won't their belief in "Jesus as personal Savior" save them? Because that's all He is to them - the one who took away their sins through His sacrifice. They neglect the greater and more important part of their salvation - Christ did not just die for our sins - He Rose to sit at the right hand of the Father. We cannot just accept Him as Savior, we must also bend the knee to serve Him as Lord.

This is what makes true Christian belief different from that of the demons. They refuse to bow the knee in submission and are, therefore, justly condemned. How can we expect it would be any different for us? Our belief must lead to a humbling of our hearts. He must be Master or He is not truly Savior.

James answered the question this way, "But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead?" Man does not "want" to know - it means submission - it means allowing God to run our lives, to do with us as He pleases (as is His right). This does NOT mean that we work our way to heaven. That is not what James is gettting at. A person can do all kinds of good works and not be in submission to God (Matthew 7:21-23). And we know from other passages that salvation is solely by the grace of God (Eph. 2:8-9) and cannot be earned by good works. James is declaring a simple fact - that one who is truly redeemed and who has bowed the knee to Christ as Savior AND Lord, will *naturally* do good works. Good works do not prove true faith, but true faith will always result in good works.

I challenge you to examine yourself now - to see if you are truly in the faith. Are you wholly submitted to Christ as Lord? Do you obey and honor Him habitually? Now is the time of humbling - the time to completely submit. "Trust in the Lord with ALL your heart, and lean not to your own understanding: In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths."

Life Lessons

So, the original intent of this BLog was to glorify God in proclaiming His work in my personal life. Busy-ness and distraction has resulted in some straying from that goal so it's time I got back to it.

I'm supposed to be at a women's fellowship meeting tonight. I fully intended to attend. I had one little task that I really needed to get done before heading off and figured that the 1/2 hour I had at home before the meeting started would be amply sufficient. I was wrong. So the meeting started 40 minutes ago and I'm just grabbing a bite of dinner. Clam Chowder :-) It was a ministry related task and the information I was working with was time-sensitive. I could have set it aside for this meeting, but I really felt it was important to get completed.

In part, I'm disappointed that I'm missing this meeting. I wanted to hear tonights speaker - she's in my shepherding group and she sits at my table for this women's fellowship group. I was very interested to hear what she would say - I think we are probably like-minded on many issues but we never have time to just sit and talk. Also, I kinda feel like I'm letting my table leader down. This group only meets once a month and I missed last month due to a sore throat.

On the other hand - my week is packed and having this time to BLog is a real blessing. So I am grateful that the Lord is the One who arranged my schedule this evening.

How do you love me? Let me test the ways . . .

The Five Love Languages

My primary love language is probably
Physical Touch
with a secondary love language being
Quality Time.

Complete set of results

Physical Touch:		9
Quality Time:		8
Words of Affirmation:		8
Acts of Service:		4
Receiving Gifts:		1

Information

Unhappiness in relationships, according to Dr. Gary Chapman, is often due to the fact that we speak different love languages. Sometimes we don't understand our partner's requirements, or even our own. We all have a "love tank" that needs to be filled in order for us to express love to others, but there are different means by which our tank can be filled, and there are different ways that we can express love to others.

Take the quiz

Supposing Severus . . .

Wow! I can't believe it's been over a month since I sat down to write. This one will be brief as I have other obligations this evening, but I'll catch up later this week.

For now - I wanted to share a Harry Potter theory that popped into my head as I was doing dishes this evening . . .

The caveat is that this is a fresh idea and I have not the slightest clue as to whether it's even possible.

What if Severus Snape were an unwilling horcrux for Voldemort? We know horcruxes can be living - though I'm not sure if they have to be willing or just how much power the piece of the soul would have over the occupant. The were some indications in Sorcerer's Stone that the individuals will is still somewhat their own.

What if Snape went to warn the Potters that Voldemort had found out about them. What if, for whatever reason, he arrived only in time to see Voldemort nearly destroyed by the backfiring curse that gave Harry his fame. What if, in his last moments, Voldemort saw Severus and split part of his soul into him?

Severus does have the ability to block his thoughts from others - evidently with a fair amount of ease - perhaps that skill is constantly being honed as he is on guard against the evil within?

This would most certainly answer the reason for Snapes hatred of Harry - in a way, Harry's to blame.

It's a thought. Maybe a foolish one, but there you have it :-)